One long day

Now I know why some people call Dec 25 as 'bada din' - one long day it was. I started from Bangalore around 2:30AM. Reached Austin at 8:20 PM - all on Dec 25. In this 18 hours, I flew for over 24 hours, spent 3 hours in paris, and another 3 hours in Atlanta.

Bangalore airport was interesting - brief rendezvous - too bad it din't last longer.

In Paris, for a brief moment, in transit on the way from terminal to the bus, I got to feel the air. It was cold. Paris to Atlanta, across the Atlantic, was a comfortable trip - except for the two couples, one in front, and the other on my left, who just couldn't seem to get enough of each other. I slept for most part of the flight.

Atlanta airport was one place. It just dint feel as if I was out of India. Every second person seemed like an Indian. While Paris looked hostile for most of it, Atlanta, looked so much like home. and Atlanta airport... if first impressions are anything to go by, US is grand!! Atlanta airport simply blew me away - it is HUGE. and you can travel from one terminal to another via underground rail. Spotlessly clean, it is easy to navigate.

The guy at the immigiration counter was cool. He asked me whether I was carrying any food etc. On hearing a "No", he said, "this is a new day in my life, this is the first Indian who has come to the US without food; 99% of people coming from India bring in food, spices etc.". The guy had one sense of humor. :-)

time to catch some sleep now... office tomorrow.